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Old School - OLD SCHOOL: Baltimore, Cleveland and Art Modell's two biggest moves
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Posted On: 11/15/07
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February 9, 1996, the NFL owners approved the move of the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore. Art Modell who had been the owner of the Browns since 1961 and a fixture in the Cleveland community uprooted his family and all that he had built and rolled the dice on a move to football starved Baltimore. While the stadium deal Modell received here was lucrative, there were lingering questions about how the Baltimore fans would respond to a new team.
Baltimore had a history of not supporting losing teams. Prior to their departure, the Colts’ attendance was the lowest in the NFL. Was Baltimore a town that had grown used to not having football? Could they rekindle their NFL passion and embrace Modell’s team that had just posted a 5-11 record during their lame duck 1995 season?
From a Baltimore football fans’ perspective we knew that his team would be supported. Modell could only hope. It was a huge gamble that eventually rewarded his bank account while enabling him and his family to feed their community centric ways. Baltimore happily rolled out the red carpet for the town’s new hero.
Modell’s move here proved to be a perfect partnership. It offered for Modell financial stability, something that he had lost in Cleveland. And for the fans of Baltimore the move would in relatively short order deliver a Super Bowl Championship.
Modell created one of the best organizations in the NFL. Despite their recent failings on the field, this franchise has brought consistent quality to the football field and to the Baltimore community alike, a perfect sports partnership.
The gamble paid off. Interestingly it wasn’t the only time that Modell bellied up to a craps table with ties to Baltimore. Another roll of the dice back on December 27, 1964 would also pay handsome dividends to Mr. Modell.
The background…
On March 22, 1961 a group headed by New York advertising executive Arthur B. Modell bought the Cleveland Browns from Dave R Jones, who headed the Browns since purchasing them himself from Browns founder Mickey McBride in 1953.
The Browns had made the NFL playoffs 8 times, winning three championships between 1950 and 1958. All player personal decisions and the day to day operations of the team were run by head coach and minority owner Paul Brown.
Brown was a strict disciplinarian and his players from the 50’s, mostly war veterans took to his coaching style. He called all the plays, and designed all offensive and defensive game plans. His teams of the 50’s included twelve players who would later be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Paul Brown himself would be inducted in 1967.
The Browns fortunes began to slide in 1961 and 1962. They finished in third place both years and were just 7-6-1 in 1962. It seemed that the rest of the NFL was passing Paul Brown by. In week twelve they lost 45-21 to the expansionist Dallas Cowboys, even Jim Brown did not lead the NFL in rushing in 1962 – the only year in his career that he would not.
The Browns needed a change.
Modell decided to become more involved with player moves. Coach Brown resisted and told Modell he would prefer if he would stay out of the way. This along with the fact that the Browns’ players approached Modell and asked that he remove Paul Brown as coach prompted Modell to fire Brown on January 9, 1963.
Jim Brown led the movement to have Paul Brown removed. Jim Brown simply said, “Paul Brown treats us as inferiors.” That was enough for Modell to make the move and he replaced Brown with one his own assistant coaches Blanton Collier.
Collier had been with the Browns working with the offense for years. Collier was mild mannered, nothing like Brown who ran the team like a drill sergeant. While Collier was liked by the players, the national media and old school Cleveland fans jumped all over the story. They accused Modell of thinking with his heart and not his head, listening to the players. How could an advertising executive know more about football than the legendary Paul Brown?
Modell became the barb of sportswriters and the fans jokes alike.
With the owners it was a different story. The inner circle of NFL owners respected Modell for taking control of his team away from a dominating coach. Modell gained respect for doing what he thought was right for his football players and team despite what the so called experts said. It was a gamble to release the man who had built the franchise into a NFL dynasty. Modell needed success on the field to quiet the media and fans. He had done what his players had asked. Now he needed them to step up and perform and justify his actions.
1963 Cleveland
The Browns began the Blanton Collier era by winning their first six games. Jim Brown rushed for 1,000 yards by the 8th week. They held a 2 game lead over the 2 time Eastern Division champion Giants. In week 7 the Giants led by quarterback YA Tittle who would throw an NFL record thirty six touchdown passes that year, beat the Browns in Cleveland 33-6. The Browns would win 4 of their last 7 games but would finish at 10-4 while the Giants won the division at 11-3.
Jim Brown rushed for a NFL single season record of 1,863 yards. Former University of Maryland star wide receiver Gary Collins caught thirteen touchdowns and journeyman quarterback Frank Ryan played consistently. The Browns were not champions but they were better but still not enough for Modell’s critics to be silenced.
Yet there was no denying that things were moving in the right direction.
1963 Baltimore
Just like the Browns, the Colts, 2 time NFL champions in 50’s were sliding. They finished 6-6 in 1960, 8-6 in 1961, and were 7-7 in 1962, each year trailing the NFL’s new dynasty – the Vince Lombardi led Green Bay Packers.
Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom knew the Colts needed a change. Rosenbloom fired the man who had won the 2 NFL championships for him, Weeb Ewbank. Rosenbloom felt that in 1962 Ewbank had lost control of the team and that the players were running things. His thoughts were confirmed when the Colts were beaten at home by the Bears 57-0 in their 11th game.
Rosenbloom and Modell both had coaches that needed to go, one in Brown who was tough on the players and Rosenbloom had Ewbank who was not demanding enough anymore.
Rosenbloom replaced Ewbank with the Detroit Lions defensive coordinator, thirty three year old Don Shula. The Lions had one of best defenses in football in 1962 and Shula was a former Colts player. The attribute that Rosenbloom liked most about Shula was that he was a disciplinarian who would get his talented team back on track for 1963.
Shula and quarterback John Unitas clashed from the start. Shula wanted to call some of the plays, Unitas refused. The Colts had significant injuries in 1963 as well, losing Ray Berry and Lenny Moore for parts of the season but they gained a future Hall of Famer in rookie TE John Mackey who caught 7 touchdown passes that year.
The Colts would have contended but 2 losses each to the Packers and the eventual champion Bears left the Colts at 8-6. While they finished in third place, Shula felt they were on the right track.
1964 Baltimore
The Colts began 1964 with a surprising 34-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. After that the Colts won 11 games in a row. They beat the defending champion Bears 52-0 in week three gaining some revenge for the 1962 loss. They beat the Packers twice, the Bears again and did not lose another game until week thirteen against the Lions.
The next week they beat the Redskins 45-17 to finish at 12-2, good enough for first place in the Western Conference and a place in the NFL Championship game. John Unitas won his second MVP award, Don Shula won coach of the year, Lenny Moore won Comeback Player of the year and scored a NFL record 22 touchdowns. Veterans Gino Marchetti and Bill Pellington anchored a defense that led the league with 57 sacks and allowed the least amount of points in the NFL. They were poised to become NFL champions again.
1964 Cleveland
The Browns were not nearly as dominating as the Colts. They won on opening day but were just 3-1-1 after five games. After a week 5 loss to the Steelers in Pittsburgh the Browns won 5 games in a row. The defending conference champion Giants would just win 2 games in 1964, leaving the young St. Louis Cardinals as the Browns main rival for the Eastern Conference Championship.
Although the Cardinals beat the Browns in St. Louis in week thirteen, the Browns held on and won the division with a 10-3-1 record while the Cardinals finished 9-3-2. The Browns were in back in the NFL championship game for the first time since 1957.
Jim Brown led the NFL in rushing again with 1,446 yards. Collins caught 8 touchdown passes but rookie Paul Warfield helped Collins avoid double coverage and caught nine scores. Ryan threw a NFL high 25 touchdown passes. The offensive line led by Gene Hickerson and John Wooten were efficient. Collier had no worries about his offense but his defense was another story.
The Browns defense finished 10th out of 14 NFL teams in ‘64. The defensive line led by veterans Paul Wiggin and Dick Modzelewski did not pressure quarterbacks enough. Rookie Jim Kanicki at defensive tackle was considered weak against the run. Their linebacker corps included Vince Costello and Galen Fiss who were solid but not spectacular. The Cleveland secondary, with Bernie Parrish, Walter Beach, Larry Benz, and Ross Fichtner had allowed a league high fifty seven percent of pass attempts completed. The Browns defense and the Colts were standing between Art Modell and vindication for firing Paul Brown.
December 27, 1964
The heavily favored Colts came into Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium with 8,000 fans who traveled from Baltimore. They had the league’s best offense and John Unitas. They had the top defense in the league as well. The Browns had a journeyman quarterback and the 10th ranked defense. The 79,544 fans who paid their way into the stadium were shocked to say the least by the outcome. Unitas was held to 95 yards passing, the Colts to 181 total yards and most importantly for the Browns, no points.
The first half was scoreless, a Unitas pass bounced off of John Mackey’s foot and into the waiting hands of Costello stopping one early Colt scoring chance. Then later, the Colts missed a field goal attempt when holder Bobby Boyd fumbled the snap. That would be as close as the Colts would get to scoring for the day. Beach held Berry to 38 yards receiving while the much maligned Brown secondary played tight man coverage forcing Unitas to run or be sacked.
The Browns did all the scoring in the second half. A 29 yard punt by the Colts Tom Gilburg set up a Lou Groza’s go ahead 43 yard field goal making it Browns 3 Colts 0. On the Browns next possession Jim Brown raced 46 yards to the Colt eighteen yard line. From there Ryan hit Collins with the first of three touchdown passes, the last two were both over 40 yards. Groza added another field goal and the Browns were NFL champions courtesy of a 27-0 blanking of the favored Colts. Collins won the game’s MVP award for scoring three touchdowns and gaining 130 yards receiving.
And Arthur B. was vindicated for firing Paul Brown, his first big gamble as a NFL owner.
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Posted On: 11/15/07
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